The Zero Day Initiative is providing a $1 million reward to safety researchers who will reveal a zero-click WhatsApp exploit at its upcoming Pwn2Own Eire 2025 hacking contest.
The file bounty targets zero-click safety flaws that permit code execution with out consumer interplay on the messaging platform utilized by greater than three billion folks worldwide.
Meta, alongside Synology and QNAP, is co-sponsoring the Pwn2Own Eire 2025 competitors, which is able to happen from October 21 to October 24 in Cork, Eire.
“As you might need guessed from the title, we’re excited to announce that Meta is co-sponsoring this yr’s occasion, and they’re hoping to see some nice WhatsApp exploits. They’re so excited for it, we’re placing up $1,000,000 for a 0-click WhatsApp bug that results in code execution,” the Zero Day Initiative introduced Thursday.
“We additionally may have lesser money awards for different WhatsApp exploits, so be sure you try the Messaging part for full particulars. We launched this class final yr, however nobody tried it. Maybe a quantity with two commas will present the wanted motivation.”
The competition options eight classes focusing on cellphones, messaging apps, house networking gear, sensible house units, printers, community storage programs, surveillance gear, and wearable expertise, together with Meta’s Ray-Ban Good Glasses and Quest 3/3S headsets, in addition to Samsung Galaxy S25, Google Pixel 9, and Apple iPhone 16 flagship smartphones.
The ZDI has additionally expanded the assault vectors for the cellular class to incorporate USB port exploitation for cellular units, requiring contestants to compromise locked telephones by way of bodily connections. Conventional wi-fi protocols, corresponding to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and near-field communication, stay legitimate assault strategies.
Registration closes on October 16 at 5 p.m. Irish Commonplace Time, with the competition order decided by a random drawing. The Zero Day Initiative operates the occasion to establish vulnerabilities earlier than malicious actors can exploit them, coordinating accountable disclosure with affected distributors.
After the failings are exploited throughout Pwn2Own occasions, distributors have 90 days to launch safety updates earlier than Pattern Micro’s Zero Day Initiative publicly discloses them.
Final yr’s Pwn2Own Eire occasion awarded $1,078,750 for over 70 distinctive zero-day vulnerabilities, with Viettel Cyber Safety amassing $205,000 for flaws demonstrated in QNAP NAS, Sonos audio system, and Lexmark printers.
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